A Media Gateway Controller (MGC) and a Media Gateway (MG) are two key components of a packet-switched network in an architecture where the service is separated from the bearer. The MGC is responsible for the service control function, and the MG is responsible for the media bearing function. In this way, the service control plane is separated from the media bearer plane, network resources are shared sufficiently, device upgrade and service extension are simplified, and the costs of development and maintenance are slashed.
The (media) gateway control protocol is a main protocol for communication between the MG and the MGC. Currently, two commonly used gateway control protocols are H.248/MeGaCo and Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP). The interaction operations between the MGC and the MG are performed through command requests and replies in the (media) gateway control protocol. Command parameters, also known as descriptors, are categorized into property, signal, event, and statistic. Service-dependent parameters aggregate into a package logically.
A package represents functions specific to a service or combination of the functions. With the development of services, the functions are enhanced or extended, and accordingly, the package needs to be enhanced or extended. Therefore, the package extending mechanism stipulates that a new package may be derived from an existing package. The existing package is called a base package, and the derived new package is called an extended package. Package elements of a base package include: property, signal, event, statistic, and the corresponding procedure, which are all inherited by the extended package.
In the process of developing the present invention, the inventor finds at least the following problems in the prior art:
In order to facilitate the MGC to control the MG, the MG needs to publish the packages supported by the MG. The MG may choose whether to publish the corresponding base package when publishing the supported extended package to the MGC. In the prior art, the MGC can apply the base package to the control interface between the MGC and the MG only if the MG has published the base package. If the MG has not published the base package, the MGC can apply the extended package but cannot apply the base package.